The Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, has announced the names of four new Directors of the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA). The new directors are Mr. David Dearie, Managing Director of Eastwind Consulting and former CEO of Treasury Wine Estates; Mr. Keith Todd, General Manager Global Operations, Accolade Wines; Ms. Mary Retallack, Managing Director of Retallack Viticulture; and Mr. Edouard Peter, Chairman of Duxton Capital Singapore. The four will ...

The national association for cider and perry producers, Cider Australia, has released a public petition calling on government to apply its new “country of origin labelling” laws to cider. If brought into effect, the new laws would mean that every cider in Australia would need to state the where the apples or pears have been sourced from. Cider Australia President, Sam Reid, said the petition aims to prove to the government ...

Following the announcement on Wednesday that the JCI/Proximo portfolio will transition to island2island Beverage Company (i2i), Think Spirits founder and Managing Director Patrick Borg made comment, speaking of the news as well as the work his team has done in getting the brands, in particular Kraken Rum, to the position they are in today. “We have been very fortunate and have been very proud to have represented the Jose Cuervo International portfolio ...

Australian producers have dazzled judges at this year’s Perth Royal Wine Show, with 26 Major Trophies awarded to top winemakers across the country. On the back of three Trophies and 19 Medals, Houghton was awarded the show’s 2015 Bill Jamieson Trophy for Most Successful Western Australian Exhibitor. Houghton received the Trophy alongside The Royal Agricultural Society of WA Trophy for Best Dry Red Table Wine and Best Dry White Table ...

Proximo Spirits/Jose Cuervo International brands (JCI) has ended its partnership with Think Spirits in Australia. The split will see major brands including Jose Cuervo, 1800 Tequila, Gran Centenario Tequila, Agavero Liqueur and The Kracken Black Spiced Rum leave Think Spirits’ portfolio. Proximo/JCI and Think Spirits partnered back in 2011 and secured the rights to the Jose Cuervo portfolio from Diageo in 2013. Instead, it has been confirmed that island2island Beverage Company ...

Ex-McWilliam’s Wines employee, Bernadette Knight has reached new heights, joining Champagne brand, Armand De Brignac as Global Chief Marketing Officer in New York this week. A native of Australia, Knight’s experience spans more than a decade in the luxury wine and spirits industry, working with champagne brands such as Veuve Clicquot, Krug, Ruinart and Taittinger. Most recently the U.S Director for Hennessy Cognac at LVMH, Knight’s appointment emphasizes Armand de Brignac’s deep commitment ...

Accolade Wines has sold its 50% shareholding in Matthew Clark to Conviviality Retail Plc. in the UK for £100 million. Conviviality is one of the UK’s largest franchised off-licence and convenience chains. Matthew Clark - the UK’s largest independent drinks distributor - is a joint venture between Accolade Wines and Punch Taverns. The deal will therefore also see Punch Taverns sell its shareholdings to Conviviality. Accolade has however, signed a 10-year ...

The results from the annual VIC100 Wine Awards for 2015 are now available. Held each year to highlight the top 100 wines produced in Victoria, each year the awards also select one wine as the region’s best. Unable to choose just one wine this year however, the prestigious VIC ONE trophy was jointly awarded. “It was our intention to decide on one winner, a single VIC ONE wine, yet with ...

This year’s BACARDÍ Legacy Global Cocktail Competition is now well underway and the top three Australian bartenders making their way through to the finals have been chosen. Selected from 15 other competitors in the semi-finals, Andrew Bennett from The Classroom, WA; Peter Hollands from Gresham Bar, QLD; and Igor Pachi from Assembly Bar in NSW are now Australia’s finalists. Contestants presented their legacy cocktail and BACARDÍ Daiquiri to legends Steve ...

17 businesses, including the Australian Hotels Association, Australian Retailers Association, Master Grocers Association and the National Farmers’ Federation have rallied together to make an amendment to the Competition and Consumer Act. Representing more than 500,000 businesses and three million employees, the 17 are hoping to see a change to Section 46 of the Act that they say, will make for healthier competition in Australia. Specifically, the group are wanting section ...